Just because your summer spent celebrating your single gal status has crept unwittingly into the holidays, it doesn’t mean that you have to turn down party invitations because you don’t have a date. In fact, that is all the more reason to go since parties are perfect havens to meet other people. Put on your best party face and follow these no-fail strategies for navigating the holidays solo.
1.Confidence is key. Before even leaving the house, you have to be utterly confident in yourself. Spend a few minutes validating your inner groovy-ness. This way, when you arrive, you’ll be giving off some seriously positive energy…energy others will be dying to absorb.
2.Wear a chic outfit. Check the dress code and then dress in your most comfortable and killer outfit, one in which you feel relaxed, sexy and fun. Fussing with your clothes or worrying whether or not you look fat is a major buzz kill, alone or otherwise. You want to wear something in which you feel fabulous!
3.Arrive somewhat late. This is the tricky part. You want to arrive late enough to where the party has started and guests have started to mingle, but not too late where everyone has already found their own conversations and your trying to catch up. At a house party, it’s perfectly acceptable to arrive up to an hour after start time. However, if it’s a cocktail hour situation, try to arrive about half an hour into it.
4.Grab a drink, any drink, just so that your hands have something to do. Holding a glass keeps you from fidgeting.
5.Look like you belong there. Keep an open and friendly expression on your face.Scan the room for other single people and try to just happen to be in their vicinity so as to strike up a conversation. Stay casual though, too much forced happiness will make the other people wonder what pill you are on. Not good for conversation, but then again, we don’t know what kind of partying you are into.
6.Have a few topics tucked into your repertoire of conversation. Current events are good, weather is pleasant and happenings around your locale make you look like you are in the know. Topics to avoid: Your lousy childhood, the weird skin rash on your back and your latest obsession with internet porn.
7.Know when to leave. You don’t want to be the last person to leave the party. It’ll look like you don’t have a life. Leave when it looks like the majority of the other folks are on their way out. And if you are having a good time with someone in particular, grab or give a cell number. You never know, another party invitation may just pop up around the corner.
